It’s a “Hell of a Reunion” in “Black Widow” Teaser

Black Widow will be Marvel's first Phase Four film, and by the time it comes out, it will have been 10 months since there was a new MCU entry. So they're hedging their bets a little bit, launching with a character we all know (and love?) in the spy thriller we never got.

Taking place after Captain America: Civil War, the film hops across Europe in an espionage adventure featuring a host of new characters (and a cameo from a de-aged William Hurt as General Ross). I'm not sure who I'm more excited to see: Florence Pugh as Natasha's sister, or David Harbour as Red Guardian, essentially the Soviet Captain America who's clearly let himself go. Both are pretty much perfect casting, even if those accents are a little shaky.

Also in the cast are Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz and O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid's Tale). Taskmaster will be the big bad of this film, though it hasn't been announced who will be playing him.

Cate Shortland will direct the film, becoming the first solo female director to helm an MCU entry. Her previous effort Berlin Syndrome was a nifty little thriller and worth checking out. It's currently streaming on Netflix.

Black Widow hits theaters on May 1, 2020.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.